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PAGE 2 MOPANI NEWS - Friday 6 July 2012 NEWS
Illegal hawkers removed
A special clean up operation by police and
traffic services in conjunction with the Greater
Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) took place last
We d n e s d a y.
The aim of the operation was to clear the
pavements of illegal hawkers in Morgan St,
Lannie Lane, Danie Joubert St and Agatha
Street after complaints form the public and
businesses.
Police, traffic and municipal officials raided
the Central Business District (CBD) where a
mass of street vendors sell goods daily.
Loose standing structures and merchandise
were removed and kept in storage for 48 hours
to be reclaimed after paying a R 200 fine.
According to police spokesperson, Lieutenant
Colonel Simon Shikwambana, illegal
hawking especially in front of ATMs in these
streets poses a security risk and the areas where
illegal hawkers operate are often hotspots for
petty criminal activities.
Neville Ndala, spokesperson for the GTM,
says that the municipality in cooperation with
the police are enforcing national legislation
regarding street trading.
Hawkers in Tzaneen are only allowed to sell
their merchandise in established areas, to keep
the pavements usable and safe for the public.
The GTM conducted an in depth Hawkers
Research and Feasibility Study in 2009 and
accordingly identified 40 safe hawking spaces
in the CBD for vendors.
Permits for these spaces have already been
allocated in conjunction with the Hawkers
Association at a cost of R40 per month.
The operation to clear Tzaneen’s streets is
ongoing and illegal traders will be charged and
a docket of inquest opened after three offenses.
Daily patrolling of the streets will continue
until Friday and more operations are expected.
Ngoepe is back
Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe, is the
new Tzaneen Cluster Police Head of Corporate
Communications.
Ngoepe joined the police service in 1985
and has been promoted through various
ranks.
He spent 10 years as a detective after which
he became a media liaison officer in 1996.
With 28 years of service in the Police,
Moatshe regards his career as a calling and
aims to serve the community of Tzaneen to the
best of his abilities.
His approach to this task of spokesperson
involves cultivating a healthy relationship
between the police and the media, professional
media handling at crime scenes, and to
encourage the community to come to the
police with problems and improve the trust
between the police, media and the public.
In this success driven approach Moatshe
hopes to allow for continuous interaction
between the South African Police Services and
the media and to respect deadlines in the print
media industry.
He adds that the community has a determined
cluster commander, Major General
Maggy Mathebula, and that the police face
many challenges in the Tzaneen area.
Some of these challenges include ATM fraud
and theft where criminals pretend to assist
member of the community at ATMs where they
swop cards or rob community members.
Ngoepe encourages the public to take a
family member or trusted friend with them to
the ATM if they are unsure how to use the
facility in order to prevent these 'helpful
strangers' from stealing their cards and
m o n e y.
Other challenges include the business sector
where breaking and entering and business
robbery continuous to be a problem.
Ngoepe requests the business community to
screen security guards they hire by contacting
the police to make sure that the guards are not
wanted criminals or accomplices in crime.
Ngoepe wants to encourage the public to
support sector policing and to attend the sector
forums.
These are important platforms for the community
to communicate with the police and to
raise issues.
He wants to encourage the community to
attend and participate in the forums and in
conjunction with the sector police declare
crime free streets.
The Community Policing Forums meetings
are a strong mouthpiece for the community
and is, according to Ngoepe, very important in
the fight against crime.
The public is encouraged to visit community
service centres to see photos and get telephone
numbers of station commanders.
He urges the public to utilise suggestion
boxes at police stations for complaints, anonymous
tip-offs on criminal activities and for
public input on how to better police service
and crime prevention.
The community must be open and honest
about criminal elements in their areas and can
SMS the police on 32211 or call the police
hotline on 0860010111 to report crime and
suspicious activities.
This, in combination with special operations
organised by the police, will win the fight
against crime.
With focus on Youth month Ngoepe wants to
encourage young people to stay in school and
out of shebeens and taverns.
With the parents managing their kids and
liquor outlets owners complying to license
terms and not selling alcohol to minors we can
prevent the youth becoming victims of crime
and more importantly prevent them from becoming
perpetrators.
The youth should be in class, studying for a
bright future.
Several strategies have been employed to
keep the youth busy and away from crime such
as the Youth Sports Against Crime initiative and
other initiatives to build recreational facilities.
Nursing students from Nchebeko Skills Consultancy marching to encourage the use of condoms
to prevent the spread of HIV and Aids in Kgapane last Wednesday.
Students march for
HIV/Aids awareness
By: Tshegofatso Ngobeni
Nursing students from Nchebeko Skills Consultancy
were marching to promote condom
use in Kgapane last Wednesday.
Approximately 90 students took to the streets
of Kgapane singing song ands encouraging the
use of condoms in the fight against HIV and
Aids.
An Auxiliary Health Work student Percy
Mathebula said that he felt that the march was
important to raise awareness regarding the
Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe is the
new Tzaneen Cluster Police Head of Corporate
Communications.
issue of HIV and Aids in the community.
"The HIV and Aids prevalence together with
TB is high in South Africa, it is important that
people use condoms to reduce the spread of
the disease and to have an understanding as
well," said Mathebula.
Nchebeko Skills Consultancy has a march
every week of the month where four different
groups from the school take to the streets of
Kgapane encouraging condom use.
Police arrest 54
over weekend
The Tzaneen police arrested 54 people over
the past week for various criminal activities.
One person was arrested for stealing from a
motor vehicle, five for common assault and
one for assault with intention to cause grievous
bodily harm.
Four were arrested for drinking and driving,
one for malicious damage to property, one for
threatening to assault and three for shoplifting.
A further five were arrested for illegal trading,
seven for illegal gambling, sixteen for public
drinking, one for theft and three for selling
liquor without the required license.
Three more people were arrested for violating
the road traffic act and three for selling
counterfeit goods.
35 Arrested by
Phalaborwa police
Phalaborwa police arrested 35 people this
past week for different criminal activities.
One person for possession of dagga ,one
person for reckless and negligent driving, four
for shoplifting, one person for assault with
intent to cause grievous bodily harm, one
person for house breaking, four people for
drunk driving, two for public indecency, one
person for theft, 11 people for public drinking
and nine people for illegal gambling.
Phalaborwa police will be busy with winter
operations and more operations during weekends,
be warned.
Weekend arrests
in Namakgale
Namakgale police arrested 27 people over
the weekend for various criminal activities.
Nine people were arrested for public drinking,
four for violating the road traffic act, four
for drunk driving, three for possession of
suspected stolen property, one person for
malicious damage to property, one for theft,
three people for assault with intent to cause
grievous bodily harm, one person was arrested
for possession of a dangerous weapon and the
other person was arrested for murder.